TeeJay

Fantastic watches

Stripping the watch really is a very simple procedure, it's just a case of taking it step by step, and being confident in what you're doing

Tues- All original 165.024:

Always nice to see the Planet Ocean with its design predecessor

Hello everyone,

I have been trying to make contact with a person selling genuine IWC movements without result. I'm guessing he is ignoring my posts because I'm new to this forum and do not have many posts.

Any suggestions how to be a a "trusted" or "senior" member without having to wait for a year or two and make 5-10 "looking good" posts or other non-constructive posts? I am reading the forums daily and have made my first purchase (from ptswiss) and have been trying to take in all the great info there is on this wonderful forum.

I hope this post wont start a noob-flaming towards me (if you do not like the post ignore it). I know there are some great people on this forum who gladly helps a noob in need

Thank you good forum fellows!

(yeah I will post pix on the Explorer as soon as I get it )

I hate to say it, but there isn't really any way to become trusted in a community with out either contributing to it (and by that I mean contribution by participation, not just financial contribution) or, by knowing someone who already is well known in the community vouching for you. That's not meant as a flaming at all, just pointing out that trust is something which has to be earned gradually. That said, there are members here who will no-doubt be more than happy to assist you if they can

The person in question might not be ignoring you, but might just be busy. I hope you manage to work something out Welcome to the forum

Tuesday.. CD 2006

full mod.. eta 7750.. chiefs AR

my hospital track marks are all but gone.. I'm putting back a little of the 40lbs I lost

Awesome watch, and awesome to see more of your ink after all this time, bro If you ever want anything drawn up, I'd be honored to do it for you

Here's my contribution... This hasn't been off my wrist (other than bathing) since the new dial went in the case A long-term project off to a solid start

I can't find my digital camera, so had to use my phone, so here's a better reference shot to fully appreciate Slartibartfast's awesome dial

These watches aren't much. I guess you'd call then fantasy models- Rolex never made anything like them. 100m=330ft, not 220ft, so the first dial is wrong. There's never been a black dial sub with a blue bezel. There was a 1680 in the 70's with a blue dial and blue bezel, but that's about it.

But at $60-70 plus shipping you're not spending too much money, So if you like them, who cares. They're just not very accurate as reps go.

+2

I'd say to avoid them, simply because there are nicer basic watches available at even cheaper prices, and because Silix has a less than perfect history when it comes to delivery times/accuracy of order being shipped...

Just my .2C

[*]My frankens (each costing less than 1/20 the price of the gens by constructing them myself) provide enough of the look & feel that I can no longer justify purchasing the gens

Even though I don't use gen parts, I would say that comes close to summing up my feelings on the subject Sure, it might not 'be real', it might not be accurate (to a specific model), but the satisfaction of knowing that I built it to be that way, and being able to achieve the goal of the project, outweighs any kind of regret/shame/etc that it's not a gen or containing gen parts, and the friends who have seen my vintage sub, have always been genuinely interested by it

That sucks, but I guess thats how they keep it exclusive. I've been searching for a new ceramic bezel and have not had any luck. The aftermarket bezels do not look accurate and the numbers on the bezel seem too thin compared to the gen bezel. I thought I would ask around first with the experts and then go from there.

That can be partially remedied by using a particular paint to re-fill the numbers, as it then 'optically enlarges' the area. I'm not too sure which paint is used, if it is flat white enamel, or a silver enamel (or even a 50/50 mix of both) but I know folks have reported some success with this little modification

Please share when you get the correct case back.

I am doing the custom engraving right now that probably not going to be 100% accurate and it costs a lot. I will share when it's done.

I'll be interested to see the engraving you manage to get done, and I'll certainly be posting pictures of the watch as the project progresses

Happy birthday, and indeed, that was very nice of her Wear it well

I think the closest I'd ever get to a gen (other than anything I might receive as a gift) would be a franken. I've got into building watches too much to take satisfaction from something purchased 'as stock', without any kind of modification involved. For me, reps have shown me that I don't have to spend obscene amounts of money to get a nice watch

Tudor allmost every piece parts have on sell on ebay. Their price are also good not freaky.. So you can even build your custom Tudor from 0% with genium parts of tudor So go on.. It is fun!!!

PS: Another Piece

I'm definitely getting more into Tudors now, simply because it's 'not a Rolex' I have got a custom Tudor project in mind, but will probably be some time before I can afford to actually get down to building it

TeeJay Tudor I am bought for modding from watcheden. Inside were 21J with Saphire but I am bought 2X Tudor Prince movement from Ebay and modded inside. Now inside Hydronout tudar prince 25 jewel automatic. Another left you can see movement on yellow movement case near Rolex bag.

Thanks for the information, I have plans to eventually get one of those as a hand/movement donor for a future project (and from the same dealer)

Happy birthday, indeed

There's some interesting pieces there for sure A fine collection I've had my eye on that Tudor Hydronaut for a while, how do you find it?

Wouldn't it be an even sweeter irony if he actually thought it was a gen, having bought it from someone else/won it playing poker, etc Thanks for providing my daily dose of schadenfreude

This is something I really only found out last night, but thought I would share. When doing a project, try and keep it as consistent as possible. Mixing features is not a problem, as long as they all blend...

What happened, was I tried to put the Snowflake dial into my vintage sub. I thought, why not have the nice clear dial, in the case I like to wear? Well, I tried it, but strangely, felt that it just didn't go. I think the problem, was the square indices clashed with the more curved sides of the older case design, and the color of the dial and markers looked 'too new' for the aged case. Not something I would have previously considered, but a very noticeable effect, in that, for no apparent reason, it 'looked wrong'. Not wrong in the sense of mixed parts, but wrong in an aesthetic sense...

So for anyone planning or working on a project, I would say be consistent in your plan. If you want modern, keep it all modern, if you want it vintage, keep it all vintage, and remember that not all dials will work with a certain case-shape

Very nice and creative.

The watch looks nice with all the vintage works.

Thanks There's quite a bit of work to do to it yet, but I am liking it as it is

Work needed:

Correct case-back (well, as close as possible without out the military issue number)

New movement (will have to be a Swiss one...)

Correct Snowflake hands (which is why I need the Swiss movement)

New bezel insert

It might take some time, but I'll get there in the end

You're probably right. It would be nice if some dealer could do up a group purchase for a couple hundred, say, noobmariner (or comparable quality) dials and a bunch of us could split it. Surely these dials couldn't contribute more than a buck or so to the production cost of a rep.

The watches are dirt cheap but the shipping is murder. I would order multiples but afraid customs might decide I'd crossed a line of some sorts.

I know what you mean, a group buy would certainly be a good way of getting hold of parts, but it does rely on people needing or wanting said parts too Then there's the logistics of a group buy, which can sometimes not always go entirely to plan I'd say the best way to go, is to work out what watches you might need for parts, and order them individually or maybe two at a time, to avoid that customs hassles Sometimes the satisfaction of building a watch yourself, can allow you to overlook certain flaws in replication

I hadn't thought about keeping the "24 hour" hand on a sub dial but it sounds kinda cool! Are there any good sources for inexpensive dials or do I need to start whining to a dealer and maybe they'll find me one just to get rid of me? ROTFLMAO I have e-mailed some for other parts and received replies that they couldn't get parts.

I could have sworn I saw several obviously aftermarket/fake Rolex "red Sub" dials on flea-bay yesterday for $50 and today they are all gone...

The GMT Sub is something Demsey and I have discussed a few times, and agree that given Rolex produced the Explorer II for caving enthusiasts, and the GMT Master for pilots, it makes sense for there to be a diver's watch with the same GMT capability, but that it's simply a design avenue Rolex never pursued. To be honest, the one I built was not entirely as per my original plan, as I hadn't planned to using the vintage dial, but, my rebuild, will be a 100% modern watch, so a more uniform appearance

As for dial sources, the Bay is one good bet, the other, is to just order more budget watches, and cannibalize them for parts... That's what I do with my projects

Guess I am heading to the range to meet a friend...normal daily carry though....

Those would all do very nicely for me, as well

That was my thinking when I ordered these things, if I messed one up I wouldn't loose any sleep over it.

TeeJay, check out my companion post about the GMT II, apparently it is totally wrong as a GMT and I'm thinking it's probably just a Sub with different bezel and dial. I'm thinking of turning that one into a Sub of some kind. From the critiques I've had of it it sounds like that would be easier than trying to turn it into a convincing GMT...

Indeed, I saw the post To be honest, take Demsey's view on it: It's not important if the watch is 100% perfect, because it's still obvious what model watch it's supposed to be, and to be honest, the '24 hour sweep' movement and rotating bezel still allows you to track a second timezone, so still perfectly wearable. I have one myself, but inadvertently damaged the movement, by holding the watch too close to a halogen bulb to charge the lume, only to discover that the datewheel was plastic, when it warped from the heat, and dragged on the back of the dial, effectively jamming the movement /

I still have plans for the watch though, as I wore it on my honeymoon, so want to do something with it rather than just chuck it out.

If I was to just buy another GMT II and transplant in the dial and movement, it would be a bit redundant, so instead, I'm going to try something a little different, but the exact plans are something I want to keep somewhat secret for the moment, as they're not 100% finalized

As you say, you could indeed simply convert the case to a Submariner. (Or even a Tudor Submariner ) Last year, I modified a Submariner dial to fit over the GMT movement, and installed it in a GMT, so I had a Submariner with GMT function

Not everyone's cup of tea, but fun for me, and a watch I enjoyed wearing, until the movement died, and something I have plans to build a 'new and improved' version of If you take things too seriously, they stop being fun, and that's no way for a hobby to be

What a great Project!! Even better, it can be improved with a small investment of dough (maybe 20 bucks) and a couple of techniques I stumbled accross while working on datewheel projects... Shoot me a PM TJ and I'll point you in the right direction...

Thanks for the offer, PM sent, it's always good to find out new tricks and techniques

Other than the CGs and date wheel this on doesn't look too bad to me especially for about $25! Who/where is the best place to get date wheel overlays from or do people make their own with photoshop?

That's my kind of budget

At that kind of price, watches become nearly disposable, so absolutely no fear of naffing them up (other than the frustration of it ) It'll make an awesome base for practicing the basics, or failing that, an ideal platform for modification/conversion work

Great collaboration project with amazing returns! I hope you wear it well T

Thanks, it hasn't been off the wrist since the new dial (well, other than bathing, as I don't want to get the strap wet ) But I'm definitely preferring Tudor to Rolex now in terms of dial variations